KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah and Sarawak members of parliament (MPs) yesterday pledged their support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the Barisan Nasional (BN) in an effort to squash rumours of MPs crossing over that have intensified with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim back in parliament.

“It is a lie. We are not goods, items, commodities that can be sold. We are not that. Our stand is very clear and firm. We are not going to move from BN,” said Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal, adding that the Sabah and Sarawak BN MPs remained undivided in their loyalty and support to the BN and were tired of the rumours of a crossover.

“We are now preparing a formal pledge which will be initiated by all the Sabah and Sarawak BN MPs. We hope to present it to the prime minister over the next few days,” Shafie told reporters at parliament lobby where he was joined by 20 of the MPs.

However, the two MPs from Sabah’s People Party (SAPP) were not seen with the group. Sarawak and Sabah have collectively 56 parliamentary seats.

Shafie said Pakatan Rakyat had been fabricating the issue of crossover by the BN MPs.

He said the pledge was made to reaffirm statements by Sabah and Sarawak chief ministers earlier that none of the states’ MPs would cross over to Pakatan Rakyat.

“The people had given their mandate to us to develop and make changes to the constituencies. Their trusts and belief in us cannot be traded,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah and Sarawak members of parliament (MPs) yesterday pledged their support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the Barisan Nasional (BN) in an effort to squash rumours of MPs crossing over that have intensified with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim back in parliament.

“It is a lie. We are not goods, items, commodities that can be sold. We are not that. Our stand is very clear and firm. We are not going to move from BN,” said Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal, adding that the Sabah and Sarawak BN MPs remained undivided in their loyalty and support to the BN and were tired of the rumours of a crossover.

“We are now preparing a formal pledge which will be initiated by all the Sabah and Sarawak BN MPs. We hope to present it to the prime minister over the next few days,” Shafie told reporters at parliament lobby where he was joined by 20 of the MPs.

However, the two MPs from Sabah’s People Party (SAPP) were not seen with the group. Sarawak and Sabah have collectively 56 parliamentary seats.

Shafie said Pakatan Rakyat had been fabricating the issue of crossover by the BN MPs.

He said the pledge was made to reaffirm statements by Sabah and Sarawak chief ministers earlier that none of the states’ MPs would cross over to Pakatan Rakyat.

“The people had given their mandate to us to develop and make changes to the constituencies. Their trusts and belief in us cannot be traded,” he said.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim regarded the Budget 2009 as nothing new and that the government had failed to address the issue of competitiveness.

“It is nothing new. We reiterate that in the last four to five years, when there was global pressure and economic slowdown, the prime minister and Barisan Nasional (BN) were not able to provide new stimulus.

“The problem is that we have lost the competitive edge. There are no new foreign direct investments (FDIs),” he said, adding that problems of management and corruption were not dealt with,” he told reporters at parliament lobby on Aug 29.

For an oil-producing country, Malaysia continued to register deficit which would have been understandable for a country that has no recourse, he said.

“The issue is not giving sweeteners to Sabah, Sarawak and the poor because it does not commensurate with the big increase in inflation and high cost. What is given does not alleviate the problem and sufferings of the poor,” he added.

“We continue to be in a state of denial. We are not able to shift from the obsolete economic policy where there are rampant corruptions and fail to be more competitive because we are stuck with the old policies.

“I see no way where we can attract FDI. Without FDI, Malaysia cannot propel its economy. And this, unfortunately, was not addressed,” said Anwar.

INFLATION is expected to remain high in the second half (2H) of this year and into early 2009 before moderating in 2H2009.

The Economic Report 2008/2009 said the consumer price index (CPI) averaged 4.4% in the first seven months of 2008 compared with 2% in the same period last year due to higher food and energy prices.

Following price adjustments of petrol and diesel in early June as well as electricity tariffs of between 18% and 26% effective July 1, inflation surged in July to reach its highest level at 8.5% since December 1981. Nevertheless, the inflation rate is expected to have peaked for the year. In July, inflation was at 7.7%.

The main contributors to the CPI increase were food and non-alcoholic beverages; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; and transport, said the report.

The food and non-alcoholic beverages group in the first seven months of the year rose 6.9% and contributed 2.2 percentage points to the CPI increase compared with only 2.8% and 0.9 percentage point in the January to July 2007 period.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah and Sarawak members of parliament (MPs) yesterday pledged their support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the Barisan Nasional (BN) in an effort to squash rumours of MPs crossing over that have intensified with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim back in parliament.

“It is a lie. We are not goods, items, commodities that can be sold. We are not that. Our stand is very clear and firm. We are not going to move from BN,” said Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal, adding that the Sabah and Sarawak BN MPs remained undivided in their loyalty and support to the BN and were tired of the rumours of a crossover.

“We are now preparing a formal pledge which will be initiated by all the Sabah and Sarawak BN MPs. We hope to present it to the prime minister over the next few days,” Shafie told reporters at parliament lobby where he was joined by 20 of the MPs.

However, the two MPs from Sabah’s People Party (SAPP) were not seen with the group. Sarawak and Sabah have collectively 56 parliamentary seats.

Shafie said Pakatan Rakyat had been fabricating the issue of crossover by the BN MPs.

He said the pledge was made to reaffirm statements by Sabah and Sarawak chief ministers earlier that none of the states’ MPs would cross over to Pakatan Rakyat.

“The people had given their mandate to us to develop and make changes to the constituencies. Their trusts and belief in us cannot be traded,” he said.